4 There are two basic schools of thought in criminologyThe Classical SchoolThe positivist SchoolRuthless oppression of those beneath it became the norm.The growing educated classes began to see the inconsistency in these policies

5 Classical Criminology Cesare BeccariaFounding Father of Modern CriminologyWrote On Crimes and PunishmentEnlightened criminal justice system that would serve the people rather than the monarchy

6 According to Beccaria the crime problem could be traced to bad laws, not bad people.Beccaria assumed that crime is a rational choice and individuals are responsible for the consequences of their behaviorHis plan included the following elements:

7 Beccaria’s PrinciplesLaws should be used to maintain the social contractOnly legislators should create lawsJudges should impose punishment only in accordance with the lawJudges should not interpret the lawsPunishment should be based on the pleasure/pain principlePunishment should be based on the act, not on the actor

8 Beccaria’s Principles ContinuedThe punishment should be determined by the crimePunishment should be prompt and effectiveAll people should be treated equallyCapital punishment should be abolishedThe use of torture to fain confessions should be abolishedIt is better to prevent crimes than to punish them

9 Beccaria’s book had a huge impact in the field of criminology.Beccaria’s plan was used as the foundation for many penal codes in Europe, Russia and the United StatesBeccaria’s work influenced the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution (the Bill of Rights).

10 Jeremy Bentham’s UtilitarianismBentham’s work was governed by the utilitarian principlesUtilitarianism assumes all human actions are calculated in accordance with their likelihood of bringing happiness (pleasure) or unhappiness (pain)

11 Bentham proposed the “felicific calculus”According to this reasoning, individuals are “human calculators” who put all the factors into an equation in order to decide whether or not a particular crime is worth committing.Bentham hypothesized that the certainty of punishment outweighs severity as a deterrent against crime.

12 Both Beccaria and Bentham advocated a new philosophy and a new system of legal and penal reform.They believed the punishment should not be inflicted for vengeance; rather, punishment should be for the reduction or deterrence of crime.

13 Weaknesses in the Classical SchoolThere was no need to ask why people behave as they do, to seek a motive, or to ask about the specific circumstances surrounding criminal acts.Factors beyond their control were not taken into account when explaining criminal behavior.

14 Positivist CriminologyDuring the last half of the nineteenth century, scholars began to challenge the ideas of the classical school.Positivism argues that people do not choose freely to commit crime, rather factors beyond their control are responsible for the criminal behavior

15 Positivism is composed of three typesBiological DeterminismPsychological DeterminismSociological Determinism

16 Auguste ComteComte argued that there could be no real knowledge of social phenomena unless it was based on a positivist (scientific) approach.Darwin’s Origin of Species revolutionized our understanding of human behaviorOld ideas that demos and animal spirits could explain human behavior were replaced by knowledge based on new scientific principles.

17 Biological DeterminismPhysiognomy –the study of facial features and their relation to human behaviorGiambattisti della Porta – founded the school of human physiognomyPhrenology – posited that bumps on the head were indications of psychological propensitiesFranz Joseph Gall

19 Cesare Lombroso Theory of the born criminalStates that criminals are a lower form of life nearer to their ape-like ancestors than non-criminals in traits and dispositionsBorn criminals have atavistic stigmata, physical features of creatures at an earlier stage of development before they become fully human

20 Cesare Lombroso ContinuedInsane Criminal or not criminal from birth; they become criminal as a result of some change in their brain which interferes with their ability to distinguish between right and wrong.Criminoloids make up an ambiguous group that includes habitual criminals, criminals by passion, and other diverse types.

21 Enrico Ferri Best known of Lombroso’s associatesAttacked the classical doctrine of free-willWas more interested in controlling crime through preventive measures: state control of the manufacture of weapons, inexpensive housing, and better street lightingArgued that crime was caused by social, economic, and political determinants

22 Raffaele GarofaloTraced the roots of criminal behavior to psychological features which he called “moral anomalies”Natural crimes are those that offend the basic moral sentiments of probity (respect for the property of others) and piety (revulsion against the infliction of suffering on others)Supported the death penalty to rid society of its maladapted members

23 Charles Goring Offered the major challenge to Lombrosian theoryStudied 3,000 convicts and compared them to Oxford and Cambridge University students, hospital patients, and soldiersHis research assistant was Karl PearsonSuccessfully disputed Lombroso’s claim of a born criminal

24 Somatotype SchoolThe somatotype school of criminology related body build to behavior. - William Sheldon published a book on Somatology which assumes that people’s body types affect their personalities

25 William Sheldon’s SomatotypesEndomorph – heavy with short arms and legs. Relatively non-criminal.Mesomorph – athletic and muscular tend to be aggressive and apt to commit violent crimesEctomorph – thin, introverted, overly sensitiveSheldon argued that mesomorphs tended, more than others, to be involved in illegal behavior

26 Richard Dougdale Inherited CriminalityStudied the Jukes familyAda Jukes, “mother of criminals”Of the 1,000 descendants Dougdale found 280 paupers, 60 thieves, 7 murderers, 40 other criminals, 40 persons with venereal disease, and 50 prostitutesDougdale argued that they were transmitting a degenerate trait to the next generation

28 Sociological DeterminismArgues that society, not the decisions of individual offenders are responsible for criminal behaviorBy focusing on groups rather than individuals, Adolph Quetelet found that behavior is predictable, regular, and understandable.

29 Sociological Determinism (Cont,)Gabriel Tarde believed that criminals learned crime just as non-criminals learned legitimate tradesThe laws of imitation state that individuals imitate others in proportion to the intensity and frequency of contact.Inferiors imitate superiors

30 Emile Durkheim Crime as a normal part of societyCrime creates social solidarityCrime creates social changeAnomie: Normlessness, a breakdown of social order as a result of a loss of standards and values